Beer Retail

I did a just-the-facts story on Premier Wynne’s beer in grocery stores announcement for the day job at Post City. It’s a complicated situation (intentionally, I think), so I have decided to also put together a blog post to cover some depth, subjective impressions from the press conference and my commentary. First, I’ll say that Kathleen Wynne is a politician who seems to be both charismatic and solid on policy. Ed Clark, as a former bank CEO (not to mention designer of the NEP in his previous career as a civil servant), was more than qualified for his role leading […]

I quite enjoyed the process of creating my table of craft beer benchmark prices. There seemed to be a fairly enthusiastic response to it. But, why keep going with this shtick? Well, despite the implication from Garrett Oliver a while back on Facebook that one would have to be a real wet blanket to consider beer based on its price per litre, I think this is something that needs more attention. In Toronto, there are enough beer writers scribbling away that we do a very good job of packing the LCBO’s small tasting room to the brim and yet, I feel like value has […]

Just like every other system, the LCBO and Beer Store duopoly has its pluses and minuses. It’s worth noting that getting Ontarians a comparatively good price on certain craft beers – especially classic, but high production Belgians like Rochefort 8 and Chimay Blue – is one of the appreciated up-sides. It’s also clear from sales data, conversations I’ve had with employees, and rough observation that the LCBO has devoted a big chunk of its selection of the past couple years to new Ontario beers. If “supporting local” is a priority for you, then this should make you smile, at least begrudgingly. As […]

I really love talking about food and beer. It comes with the territory as a freelance writer who focuses on those topics. For a recent Eater Toronto story, I got to do an interview that was intriguing enough that it went on for a couple hours and I had to chop quite a bit of it to make it down to a reasonable length. Josh Bird (a.k.a The Beer Phantom) who recently left the LCBO was the answering half of the Q & A. While he worked there, Josh was a customer service rep and the “beer guy” at the LCBO […]